This invention relates to an apparatus for distributing liquids of varying concentrations. More particularly, the invention relates to such an apparatus adapted for distributing lubricants to a sanitary chain conveyor system.
Sanitary chain conveyor systems are used extensively in food and beverage plants to convey bottles, cans, cases, containers, etc., to various pieces of equipment such as case unloaders, case stackers, can and bottle warmers, washers, fillers, labelers, cappers, etc. These conveyors are lubricated by various means in order to reduce the friction between the object being conveyed and the conveyor itself, thus preventing damage to the conveyor and the conveyor drive mechanism, the equipment being fed by the conveyor and the object being conveyed. The lubricant also prevents dirt and dust build up on the conveyor and its drive mechanism, thus keeping it sanitary and in good working order.
Lubrication is generally accomplished by pumping a stock solution made from concentrate and water through tubing to spray nozzles which are mounted so that they apply a stream of diluted lubricant onto the sanitary conveyor at strategic points. For example, a bottling plant for soft drinks may require 15 to 30 points of application on 7 or 8 different conveyors and dead plate areas from a common stock solution tank. The stock solution is generally made up automatically to a known dilution by various means, such as volumetric metering of dilution water and concentrated lubricant, or by conductivity control of the stock solution in the tank. Typical of these prior art systems is the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,280,941.
However, such systems present a problem where lubricaton with more than one strength solution is desired. Equipment that is used to make up the stock solution automatically is relatively expensive, and multiple units have been used to give the different strengths required. For example, a more concentrated lubricating solution is required after the filler where the food product being packaged is often spilled onto the conveyor, in areas where dirty returned bottles are being conveyed to a bottle washer, and in dead-plate areas. These areas are known as "trouble" application points and it has been found that merely increasing the volume of application of lubricant at these points does not solve the problem satisfactorily. Thus, the installation of multiple stock solution tanks operating at different dilutions have been required in order to handle these "trouble" application points as well as the normal points that require a less concentrated lubricating solution.